Apparatus for dynamically circumventing faults in the light emitting diodes (LEDs) of a pixel in a graphical display

ABSTRACT

An apparatus dynamically circumvents faults in the light emitting diodes (LEDs) of a pixel in a graphical display. The LEDs are organized into groups of one or more LEDs. The apparatus includes drivers for generating a current to an associated group of LEDs of the pixel and fault detectors associated with each group of LEDs. The drivers may be driven, for example, by pulse-modulated signals specifying average currents for the groups of LEDs. The fault detectors each detect fault in an associated group of LEDs and asserts a fault signal when a fault is detected. In addition, an encoder is provided to receive the fault signals from the fault detectors and to provide signals encoding the faults detected and identifying the associated groups of LEDs. A controller that receives the encoded signals may adjust the driver signals for the groups of LEDs for which no fault is detected, in order to compensate for the detected faults.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present invention is also related to (a) U.S. Non-Provisional patentapplication Ser. No. 11/836,104, entitled “Method for Compensating for AChromaticity Shift Due to Ambient Light in An Electronic Signboard,”filed Aug. 8, 2007; (b) U.S. Non-Provisional patent application Ser. No.11/836,110, entitled “Method for Fault-Healing in A Light Emitting Diode(LED) Based Display,” filed Aug. 8, 2007; (c) U.S. Non-Provisionalpatent application Ser. No. 11/836,114, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,243,090,issued Aug. 14, 2012, entitled “Method For Mapping A Color SpecifiedUsing A Smaller Color Gamut To A Larger Color Gamut,” filed Aug. 8,2007; (d) U.S. Non-Provisional patent application Ser. No. 11/836,116,entitled “Graphical Display Comprising a Plurality of Modules EachControlling a Group of Pixels Corresponding to a Portion of theGraphical Display,” filed Aug. 8, 2007; (e) U.S. Non-Provisional patentapplication Ser. No. 11/836,117, entitled “Method for Displaying aSingle Image for Diagnostic Purpose without Interrupting an Observer'sPerception of the Display of a Sequence of Images,” filed Aug. 8, 2007;(f) U.S. Non-Provisional patent application Ser. No. 11/836,120, nowU.S. Pat. No. 7,768,180, issued Aug. 3, 2010, entitled “Enclosure forHousing a Plurality of Pixels of a Graphical Display,” filed Aug. 8,2007; and (g) U.S. Non-Provisional patent application Ser. No.11/836,125, entitled “Method for Computing Drive Currents for aPlurality of LEDs in a Pixel of a Signboard to Achieve a Desired Colorat a Desired Luminous Intensity,” filed Aug. 8, 2007.

The disclosures of the patent applications listed above are herebyincorporated by reference in their entireties.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to light-emitting diode (LED) basedsignboards. In particular, the present invention relates to increasingboth functionality and reliability of such LED-based signboards.

2. Discussion of the Related Art

Light emitting diodes (LEDs) produce most of the active images shown onmodern advertising structures. A large number of LEDs (e.g., hundreds ofthousands to millions) are used on a typical signboard to produce amulticolored image. Thus, the reliability of both the pixels formed fromgroups of LEDs and their associated electronics is an important designconsideration. Thus, it is important to be able to detect and to handleLED failure, incurring only a minimal down time.

In a typical signboard, the LEDs are arranged in small groups, with eachgroup providing a picture element (pixel) in the image being displayed.Each pixel is capable of displaying a wide range (“gamut”) of colors.Typically, each pixel¹ is made up of three kinds of LED. Each “kind” ofLEDs may consist of a single LED, or a serially connected string ofLEDs, providing a specific color of light (“primary color”). PopularLEDs provide red, green and blue lights. Light of a wide variety ofcolors and intensities may be produced from each pixel by properlycontrolling the intensity of light emitted from each kind of LED. Theintensity of light emitted from each LED kind is controlled by theelectrical current flowing through the LED. In addition, the humanpsycho-visual system is insensitive to light intensity changes that aremore rapid than about 100 Hz. For these reasons, the typical driver foran LED, or for a string of serially connected LEDs, is made up of acurrent source that is pulse-modulated to produce two states: i.e.,either having no current or a current of a reference value. Themodulation rate is chosen so that the waveform has essentially no energypresent below about 100 Hz. A duty cycle may be selected so that theaverage value of the current waveform over time provides the requiredlight intensity from the LEDs. The desired duty cycle is stored in acounter that is preset by digital circuitry to correspond to therelative intensity desired from a particular kind of LED (e.g.,red-emitting) within a pixel. The reference value I_(ref) of the currentis such as to provide a desired brightness for the entire image displayconsisting of many pixels. ¹ In the present description, a pixel mayinclude one or more LEDs provided within a locality of the signboard toappear to a distant viewer as an illuminated point on the display. TheLEDs forming the pixel may be addressed and programmed as a single unit,or as separate individual units.

For convenience in construction, installation and maintenance, a typicalsignboard organizes its pixels in groups, with each group being housedin a common structure or module. A group typically consists of hundredsto thousands of pixels. Sometimes, each group is further subdivided intomany parts each consisting of a few to a few tens of pixels. However,since each color in each pixel must be controlled independently of allothers, large amounts of data must flow to each group of pixels whenevera change is made in the image displayed on the advertising structure. Toshow a motion picture on such a structure would require the ability tohandle a huge data flow rate. Contemporary signboards use many parallelwires to transfer the data and additional wires for control andmonitoring functions. Consequently, a large number of connectors arerequired for interconnecting components. The cost and reliability of theconnectors, the cost of manufacture and the cost of maintenance allsuggest that alternative methods for accomplishing the interconnectionsare desirable.

As signboards are large outdoor structures, their exposed faces becomedirty and must be cleaned to preserve the quality and appearance of theimages shown. Additionally, particularly for structures exposed tostrong sunlight, the faces may be also exposed to significant heatloads. Therefore, cleaning the faces and controlling the thermalenvironment can prolong the life and reduce repair and maintenancecosts.

The entire set of colors that a light-emitting display is capable ofshowing is called its color gamut, which is a function of all primarycolors that the light-emitting elements can produce. Typically, a set ofLEDs may provide a gamut which produces images exceeding the gamutcapability of the display system that generates or processes the images.As a result, the gamut available on a signboard may not be fullyutilized. The images shown thus may not have the attention-capturing oraesthetic impact that would be possible if the gamut were moreeffectively utilized.

Further, in humans, color perception changes with the ambient lightingcondition. A color perceived in a bright background looks different whenthe background brightness changes, so that some signboards may bedifficult to read or an image appears to be of the wrong or unnaturalcolors under certain lighting conditions. Accordingly, a method forcompensating for perceived color shift due to ambient light is desired.

SUMMARY

According to one embodiment of the present invention, an apparatusdynamically circumvents faults in the light emitting diodes (LEDs) of apixel in a graphical display. The LEDs may be organized into groups(e.g., LED chains), each group having one or more LEDs. The apparatusincludes drivers for generating a current to an associated group of LEDsof the pixel and fault detectors associated with each group of LEDs. Thedrivers may be driven, for example, by pulse-modulated signalsspecifying average currents for the associated groups of LEDs. The faultdetectors each detect fault in an associated group of LEDs and asserts afault signal when a fault is detected. In addition, an encoder isprovided to receive the fault signals from the fault detectors and toprovide signals encoding the faults detected and identifying theassociated groups of LED. A controller that receives the encoded signalsmay adjust the driver signals for the groups of LEDs for which no faultis detected, in order to compensate for the detected faults.

The present invention is better understood upon consideration of thedetailed description below in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows area 100 defined by the boundary of the color gamut of thehuman psychovisual system, and illustrative, hypothetical color gamut120 representing a color gamut that can be constructed from five (5) LEDkinds, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 2-6 show resulting colors gamuts 121-125, when the blue LED, theblue-green LED, the green LED, the amber LED and the red LED fail,respectively.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing illustrative pixel 700, according toone embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 illustrates one detection method that is suitable forimplementing in fault detector 703.

FIG. 9 shows an illustrative interconnection using router or switch 901to group together a set of switches 902-1 to 902-m, each of whichconnects to a set of modules 903-1 to 903-n containing multiple pixelgroups, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 shows one implementation of a module, in accordance with thepresent invention.

FIG. 11 shows enclosure 1100 for a module with fluid flow capability, inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12, is a CIE chromaticity diagram showing lines of perceivedconstant hue within area 100, which represents substantially all colorsperceived by humans.

FIG. 13 shows small arrows representing the direction of increasingchroma, where the length of each arrow indicates the “distance” along aline of constant hue required to produce a unit of change in chroma.

FIG. 14 shows a map of such a function that reduces the value of a inthe vicinity of colors usually associated with face colors.

FIG. 15 shows an integrated circuit 1500 including several currentsources, connected to a number of LED strings.

FIG. 16 illustrates using parallel redundant LED drivers, with one ofthe parallel current sources active at a time, to avoid serviceinterruption.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a fault in an LEDor the wiring in a pixel may be circumvented. When a fault in either anLED or in the wiring is detected and located, the intensities of otherLEDs in a pixel may be dynamically altered, so that the pixel cancontinue to function based on other functional LEDs in the pixel,despite the fault and until repair is performed. Under this arrangement,the pixel may function with little or no noticeable difference from theinput (original) tristimulus value for the pixel. In this embodiment,each pixel may have 3 or more different kinds of LED, with each LEDproviding light contributing to providing the color specified by theinput (original) tristimulus value for the pixel coordinate (x_(i),y_(i)). (The present detailed description follows the color coordinateconvention of G. Wyszecki and W. Stiles, Color Science: Concepts andMethods, Quantitative Data and Formulae, 2^(nd) Edition, John Wiley &Sons, Inc., New York (1982). See pages 130-248, especially 137-142, fora discussion of the CIE colorimetric system.)

FIG. 1 shows area 100 defined by the boundary of the color gamut of thehuman psychovisual system (also known as the “CIE chromaticitydiagram”), and illustrative, hypothetical color gamut 120 representing acolor gamut that can be constructed from five (5) kinds of LED, inaccordance with the present invention. At the boundary of color gamut100, the oval-shaped curve is called the “spectral locus” and thestraight line connecting the ends of the spectral locus is the “purpleline”. Points on the spectral locus each correspond to the color of amonochromatic (i.e., single-wavelength) light, with blue at the lowerleft, greens near the peak, yellow then orange on the downward slopingupper side and finally red at the rightmost end. Points on the purpleline correspond to an additive mixture of monochrome blue and monochromered light. Almost 100% of all colors perceived by the human psychovisualsystem are represented by points in the closed surface bounded by thespectral locus and purple line.

As shown in FIG. 1, color gamut 120 covers all colors that can becreated using LEDs with colors at coordinate 101 (“blue-green LED”), 102(“green LED”), 103 (“amber LED”), 104 (“red LED”) and 105 (“blue LED”).All colors represented by the interior and boundary of the pentagon areavailable for display. FIGS. 2-6 shows the resulting colors gamuts121-125 when exactly one of the 5 LED kinds fails. Namely, FIGS. 2-6show resulting colors gamuts 121-125, when the blue LED, the blue-greenLED, the green LED, the amber LED and the red LED fail, respectively.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a pixel may beprovided a sensor associated with each kind of LED (i.e., either asingle LED or a serially-connected string of LEDs of that kind) in apixel, such that a fault detector may indicate a fault in one kind ofLED in the pixel (e.g., detecting a short or an open circuit in the LEDor the LED string). When one kind of LED fails in a pixel with N kindsof LED, N−1 kinds of LED remain functional, so that the resulting gamutof colors available for that pixel has the lesser of 2 or N−2dimensions. When N=3, the gamut is just one-dimensional (along the linejoining the color coordinates of the remaining kinds of LED). If thedesired pixel color (x_(d), y_(d)) does not lie within ajust-noticeable-difference distance from the line connecting the colorcoordinates of the two remaining colors, no circumvention of the faultis possible. When N>3, the gamut may be two-dimensional. If the desiredpixel color (x_(d), y_(d)) lies within the convex hull formed byconnecting the color coordinates of the N−2 remaining LED, then thefault may be circumvented by applying appropriate drives to theremaining LED kinds to create the desired pixel color (x_(d), y_(d)),whenever the required brightness is within the capability of thoseremaining LEDs. Standard techniques from linear algebra may be used tofind the set of luminances of the remaining, functional LEDs that willproduce the desired pixel color and luminance. One method forcalculating an LED drive for a desired pixel color using a constrainedmaximization approach is described in further detail below.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing illustrative pixel 700, according toone embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 7, pixel 700includes control module 701 receiving control signals 721 specifying thecolor coordinate of the desired color. Control module 701 also receivesfault detection signals 724 from fault detector 703. When all LED kindsare operational, the control signals 721 are mapped into the N currentsignals 722 driving the N LED kinds of LEDs 702. If fault detectionsignals 724 indicate that one or more of the LED kinds is detected to befaulty, the control signals 721 are mapped into the appropriate currentsignals 722 driving the remaining LED kinds. The current of each LEDkind is sensed and signals 723, representing the states of the LEDkinds, are provided to fault detector 703. In a hierarchical controlsystem, the status and fault information of the LED kinds, as detectedby detector 703 may be provided along the control hierarchy to a controlelement (e.g., a CPU) at a higher control level. The suitable drivecurrents for the remaining LEDs may be calculated at this higher levelcontrol element, and may be provided to control module 701 to circumventthe fault conditions.

Notice that the color gamut is severely restricted if a failure occursin either the blue LED or the red LED. Thus, in one embodiment of thepresent invention, redundant strings of red and blue LEDs are providedto minimize the risk of a pixel failure due to a failure of a single LEDstring.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a gamut of thesource images is mapped to the capability of the system using LEDs thathave larger gamuts. An example of such a system includes those displaysutilizing more than three primary colors. As explained above, the lightintensities emitted from different LED kinds are each controlled by theshort-term average of the electrical current through the LED. Byadjusting the average current through each LED kind in a pixel, theprecise adjustment through the entire range of colors and brightness ismade possible. Using this technique, an image produced by an apparatuswith a reduced color gamut may be shown on an image display that has agreater gamut. This gamut expansion can be performed using software,customized hardware or a combination of both hardware and software. Whenthe human psychovisual system is taken into account in the gamutexpansion procedure, impressive results (e.g., in an image withexceptional color richness) may be achieved. In the prior art, however,such an image may be displayed only with the colors of the reduced colorgamut.

In mapping colors between color gamuts, the psychovisual system shouldbe considered, as the human is particularly intolerant ofmisrepresentation of certain color groups (e.g., skin colors and logocolors used in advertising). Therefore, a gamut expansion in thevicinity of these colors requires special attention. The presentinvention provides this special attention as well as attention tocontinuity and gradient control in mapping between color gamuts. A gamutexpansion changes the color, and, possibly, the luminance, of mostpixels in the image to be displayed in a way that increases theperceptual quality of the image. The changes are preferably smooth(e.g., in CIE tristimulus space) and should preferably preserve the hueof the pixels. According to one embodiment, a parameter a controls the“amount” of gamut expansion. The gamut expansion may be represented byfunction ƒ (t, α) which maps an input tristumulus vector t into anothertristumulus value (the output tristimulus vector), where α is a scalarthat controls the amount of change (e.g., where the input and the outputtristimulus vectors are desired to be the same, α=0).

When expanding a gamut, it is desirable to keep the same hue (“generalcolor”) but increase the chroma (“saturation”). For example, a“bleached” color would be mapped to a more “pure” color under such aprocedure. Additionally, the chroma may be changed by an amount thatdepends on α and, possibly, the tristimulus value of the pixel underconsideration. The tristimulus value dependency protects (i.e., allowingonly small changes) certain hues, such as human skin or face colors. Onemethod according to the present invention uses a map that provides adirection and magnitude for a unit change in chroma for any feasibletristimulus value. The total change at any chroma may then be calculatedby integrating on the map (i.e., integrating the magnitude along thegiven direction), beginning at the input (i.e., original) tristimulusvalue for the pixel, until the desired amount of gamut expansion isreached for that pixel. Methods may be developed under any of a numberof already known models that relate perceived colors and standardcolorimetry.

FIG. 12, is a CIE chromaticity diagram showing lines of perceivedconstant hue within area 100, which represents substantially all colorsperceived by humans, as already described above. The color coordinate(0.310, 0.316) is an example of a “white point” corresponding to white(specifically, at CIE Illuminant C). As the constant-hue lines radiateoutward from white near the center of the chromaticity diagram, thechroma increases until the constant-hue lines terminate on either thespectral locus (denoting monochromatic light) or the purple line, whichconnects blue and red.

FIG. 13 shows small arrows representing the direction of increasingchroma, where the length of each arrow indicates the “distance” along aline of constant hue required to produce a unit of change in chroma.FIGS. 12 and 13 are obtained using the Stiles model in the Wyszecki andStiles text (mentioned above), discussed for example, at pages 670-672²,based on extensive experiments on two-color thresholds. As one may seefrom the following discussion, the methods of the present invention areindependent of the choice of model. Thus, other choices of models may beused to obtain similar results. As physiologists and others provideimprovement in the models, the methods of the present invention cantrack and take advantage of these new models. ² Note that thedefinitions for the Christoffe1 symbols set forth on page 671 areincorrect. The correct definitions are

$\left\lbrack {12,1} \right\rbrack = {{\frac{1}{2}\frac{\partial g_{11}}{\partial x^{2}}\mspace{14mu}{{and}\mspace{14mu}\left\lbrack {22,1} \right\rbrack}} = {\frac{\partial g_{21}}{\partial x^{2}} - {\frac{1}{2}\frac{\partial g_{22}}{\partial x^{1}}}}}$

As seen from FIG. 12, for example, the lines (or sheets, if luminancedependence exists) of constant hue are curved in tristimulus space, andthe lines (sheets) of constant chroma are therefore not uniformlyspaced. Each choice of input pixel tristimulus vector t is on a line ofconstant hue. To find the output tristimulus value ƒ (t, α) the arrow att in FIG. 13 is followed until an amount of chroma change required bythe value of α is achieved. The resulting position corresponds to theoutput tristimulus valueƒ (t, α). Where the luminance is held constant,each line of constant hue may be uniquely specified by a singleparameter (e.g., the initial angle of the line emanating from thecluster point). Thus, a line of constant hue that contains a giventristimulus vector t may be found in a map such as FIG. 12, by searchingover lines of constant hue that cover the tristimulus space, andselecting the two lines that surround the point t. Bisection or anyother suitable method may then be used to find the specific linecontaining t. Alternatively, if the luminance changes along the line ona sheet of constant hue, then two parameters are needed to select a line(on a sheet of constant hue). In that case, the search is then over theset of the two parameters and standard techniques may also be used forconducting the search.

On a digital computer, to realize a good approximation to ƒ (t, α), atradeoff exists between execution speed and memory requirements. Thus,numerous implementations are possible. Many operations required toexpand the gamut are repetitive and independent of the real-time data.These operations need be performed once (“pre-processed”), with theirresults stored in a data structure that provides access during real-timeoperation. With such preprocessing, significant reduction in thequantity of operations required in real-time results, reducing thecalculation cost and time. In each of these methods, gamut expansion isperformed on a pixel-by-pixel basis. Input to the expansion algorithm isa tristimulus representation of the original color and intensity. Outputof the expansion algorithm is a tristimulus representation of theexpanded color and intensity.

According to one embodiment, a look-up table may be constructed for eachchoice (of a set of discrete values) of α, indexed by the inputtristimulus value. Each entry in the look-up table is populated by theoutput tristimulus value or, more directly, the current required todrive the LED strings contained in the pixel to reproduce the color ofthe output tristimulus value. For example, if the input is the CIE L*a*bvalue from a typical TIFF image format, then 24 bits are used todescribe the tristimulus value and, hence, the look-up table would have2²⁴ (i.e., 16,777,216) entries. If five colors are used as primarycolors in a pixel, and each color requires 16 bits (i.e., two 8-bitbytes) for its luminance description, then 5×2×2²⁴=167,772,160 bytes ofstorage are required for each choice of α. Therefore, a few gigabytes ofstorage could be required for an extensive lookup table that wouldprovide a direct mapping from an input pixel value to a drive value foreach of the primary colors used in a pixel. Using look-up tablesprovides the fastest way to perform the mapping, as such an approachrequires only a few memory fetch operations per pixel, making itfeasible for real-time display of a motion picture.

Alternatively, a “uniform color space” representation may be used forthe input and the output tristimulus values, so that the integration forthe gamut expansion may be carried out using a linear transformation.Examples of a uniform color space include the CIE L*a*b* and the CIEL*u*v representations. There are also other uniform color spaces thatmay be used. Under this method, a look-up table indexed by the inputtristimulus vector t provides a pointer to a data structure. The datastructure holds the individual components of two vectors t and vexpressed in the uniform color space. Vector v is a unit vectorrepresenting the direction along the line or sheet of constant hue. Eachof the vectors t and v may have two or three components, depending onwhether luminance is kept constant during the chroma expansion. Eachelement of the data structure may therefore be of the form (a, b, v_(a),v_(b)) or (L, a, b, v_(L), v_(a), v_(b)). Thus for a desired gamutexpansion of Δs color difference units in the uniform color space (i.e.,(Δs)²=(L₁−L₂)²+(a₁−a₂)²+(b₁−b₂)², for two color points 1 and 2). A colordifference unit of one (1) represents the minimum perceptible colordifference. Using the values from the data structure, the outputtristimulus value is provided by t+(Δs) v, which is then rounded andtrimmed, if required. Such a look-up table has 2²⁴ entries. Thus,approximately 256 or 384 megabytes are necessary to hold the table andthe data structures, depending on whether luminance is kept constant inthe expansion, and assuming that each of the components is expressed asan 8-bit value. The storage requirement may be halved, if the values ofL, a and b are not stored, but are obtained by other means (e.g.,computing the transformation). Under this method, a few tens to a fewhundreds machine operations are required per pixel.

One transformation preserves hue while changing saturation of theresulting color. The mapping is given by:a ₂=(1+γ)a ₁b ₂=(1+γ)b ₁L ₂=ƒ(L ₁,γ)

This transformation preserves hue as γ is changed. γ is related to thechange parameter a discussed above, except that γ is a quantity in theuniform color space. By selecting ƒ(L₁, 0)=L₁, the transformationprovides no change when γ=0. Generally, function ƒ allows luminousintensity varies with γ. ƒ is usually a smooth function in both L and γ.If ƒ is constant for a given γ, independent of luminance L,(ΔS)²=(a₁−a₂)²+(b₁−b₂)², i.e., Δs depends only on a_(i) and b_(i).

Under this transformation,

$\left. {\left( {\Delta\; s} \right)^{2} = {\left( \frac{{f\left( {L_{1},\gamma} \right)} - L_{1}}{\gamma} \right)^{2} + a_{1}^{2} + b_{1}^{2}}} \right\}\gamma^{2}$

Approximating the quotient by the derivative obtained by letting γapproach zero, then

${\gamma = \frac{\Delta\; s}{\left\lbrack {\left( \frac{\partial{f\left( {L_{1},0} \right)}}{\partial\gamma} \right)^{2} + a_{1}^{2} + b_{1}^{2}} \right\rbrack^{\frac{1}{2}}}},$where the positive square root has been chosen, such that γ increaseswith Δs. Values v_(a), v_(b) and v_(L) may be given by:

$v_{a} = \frac{a_{1}}{\left\lbrack {\left( \frac{\partial{f\left( {L_{1},0} \right)}}{\partial\gamma} \right)^{2} + a_{1}^{2} + b_{1}^{2}} \right\rbrack^{\frac{1}{2}}}$$v_{b} = \frac{b_{1}}{\left\lbrack {\left( \frac{\partial{f\left( {L_{1},0} \right)}}{\partial\gamma} \right)^{2} + a_{1}^{2} + b_{1}^{2}} \right\rbrack^{\frac{1}{2}}}$$v_{L} = \frac{\frac{\partial{f\left( {L_{1},0} \right)}}{\partial\gamma}}{\left\lbrack {\left( \frac{\partial{f\left( {L_{1},0} \right)}}{\partial\gamma} \right)^{2} + a_{1}^{2} + b_{1}^{2}} \right\rbrack^{\overset{\_}{2}}}$

Hence,a ₂ =a ₁+(Δs)v _(a)b ₂=b₁+(Δs)v _(b)L ₂ =L ₁+(Δs)v _(L)

Note that protection of certain colors, as discussed above, may beaccomplished by multiplying the values of v_(a), v_(b) and v_(L) each bya constant that is less than one. If luminance does not change with γ,v_(L)=0 and L₂=L₁. Then only two components are needed for each term inthe data structure.

Hence, by storing the values of the v_(a), v_(b) and v_(L) for eachpossible choice of the triplet (L₁, a₁, b₁), repetitive calculations areavoided and evaluation of the output requires only lookup and a fewarithmetic operations.

Yet another alternative, according to one embodiment of the presentinvention, provides a preprocessing step that constructs, from a list ofvalues of vector t along each of a set of constant hue lines, (i) afirst interpolation function, given by t=ƒ₁(θ, s), where θ is theinitial angle (or two angles, if the luminance changes along a line ofconstant hue) and s is the distance along the line or sheet of constanthue measured in units of constant chroma, and (ii) a secondinterpolation function, given by (θ, s)=ƒ₂(t), the second interpolationfunction being constructed by sampling t to produce a list of θ and s asa function of the components of vector t.

To find the output tristimulus value t_(out) from the input valuet_(in), a pair (θ, s) is obtained using the second interpolationfunction ƒ₂(t_(in)). The output (expanded) tristimulus value t_(out) isthen obtained using the first interpolation function t_(out)=ƒ₁(θ,s+Δs), where Δs corresponds to the desired shift in chroma and which islinearly related to the change parameter a described above. This methodwould require tens to hundreds of thousand machine operations per pixel,mostly to evaluate the two interpolation functions ƒ₁ and ƒ₂.

As explained above, it is desirable to limit gamut expansion of certainranges of colors, such as skin colors. One method provides a functionthat gives the value of α, as a function of the input tristimulus value,so that colors in or near the protected colors are provided a lesser α.FIG. 14 shows a map of such a function that reduces the value of α inthe vicinity of colors usually associated with face colors. Depending onthe detail of the map, the value produced by the map at a given pixelmay be combined additively, multiplicatively or with some othercomposition on the nominal choice of α used for gamut expansion of theimage.

Images that are to be displayed on a signboard using LEDs are typicallyprovided by a system having a smaller color gamut than that availableusing LEDs. The present invention, by any of the gamut expansion methodsdiscussed above, thus provides a way to more effectively utilize thecolor gamut available in an LED display. Significant improvement in theperceived image quality of images that are designed or processed in asystem capable of only a smaller color gamut is thereby achieved,

The present invention provides a method for an image display thatcompensates for ambient light. In an LED-based signboard of the presentinvention, sensors are provided to measure the ambient light, or thelight provided by a pixel or a group of pixels. The light measurementsare provided as input to photometric equations which describe thedesired intensity and the color of a pixel under the measured ambient orlighting conditions. The equations are then solved for the luminousintensity required for each LED kind in the pixel. This calculation isrepeated for every pixel in the display.

Suppose the desired primary color stimuli for a given pixel, asexpressed in the tristimulus calorimetric system, are (X_(d), Y_(d),Z_(d)) for a given pixel, and the primary stimuli for the ambient lightare (X_(a), Y_(a), Z_(a)), the following basic calorimetric equationsapply to the additive color mixture:

${X_{a} + {\sum\limits_{p = 1}^{P}{b_{p}X_{p}}}} = X_{d}$${Y_{a} + {\sum\limits_{p = 1}^{P}{b_{p}Y_{p}}}} = Y_{d}$${Z_{a} + {\sum\limits_{p = 1}^{P}{b_{p}Z_{p}}}} = Z_{d}$

Where the display includes P different LED kinds, wherein the p-th LEDkind provides light with the primary stimuli (X_(p), Y_(p), Z_(p)) atmaximum luminance. The variable b_(p) (0≦b_(p)≦1) provides a linearluminance control for each of the P LED kinds. The equations may berewritten in vector matrix notation as follows:

Ab + v_(a) = v_(d), where ${A = \begin{bmatrix}X_{1} & \ldots & X_{p} & \ldots & X_{P} \\Y_{1} & \ldots & Y_{p} & \ldots & Y_{P} \\Z_{1} & \ldots & Z_{p} & \ldots & Z_{P}\end{bmatrix}},{b = \begin{bmatrix}b_{1} \\\ldots \\b_{p} \\\ldots \\b_{P}\end{bmatrix}},{v_{d} = {{\begin{bmatrix}X_{d} \\Y_{d} \\Z_{d}\end{bmatrix}\mspace{14mu}{and}\mspace{14mu} v_{a}} = \begin{bmatrix}X_{a} \\Y_{a} \\Z_{a}\end{bmatrix}}}$

When a set of non-negative values b₁, b₂, . . . , b_(P); (0≦b_(p)≦1) arefound for the above equations, given A, v_(a) and v_(d), a realizable,exact set of luminous intensities are found, such that compensation forthe ambient light is achieved. An approximate solution is required whenno set of non-negative values {b₁, b₂, . . . , b_(P); 0≦b_(p)≦1} isfound.

The present invention provides an algorithm for solving the aboveequations exactly, when possible, and otherwise provides an approximatesolution that is nearest to the desired perceived pixel color.

It is convenient to map the CIE XYZ system to an approximately uniformcolor space—i.e., a space in which perceptual color difference isapproximately the same for equal position differences in the colorspace. Suppose the one-to-one mapping from CIE XYZ space to theapproximately uniform space is the function U where the domain and therange each consist of three-dimensional vectors. As discussed above, theL*a*b color space is an example of a uniform color space. Otherapproximately uniform color space may also be chosen. Define functions ƒand g as follows:

$f = \left\{ {{\begin{matrix}u^{1/3} & {{{if}\mspace{14mu} u} > 0.008865} \\{{7.787\; u} + \left( {16/116} \right)} & {otherwise}\end{matrix}g} = \left\{ \begin{matrix}{{116v^{1/3}} - 16} & {{{if}\mspace{14mu} u} > 0.008856} \\{903.3v} & {otherwise}\end{matrix} \right.} \right.$

Then, representation in the L*a*b color space for a given CIE XYZ (X, Y,Z) value is given by:

${U\left( \begin{bmatrix}X \\Y \\Z\end{bmatrix} \right)} = \begin{bmatrix}{g\left( {Y/Y_{n}} \right)} \\{500\left\lbrack {{f\left( {X/X_{n}} \right)} - {f\left( {Y/Y_{n}} \right)}} \right\rbrack} \\{200\left\lbrack {{f\left( {Y/Y_{n}} \right)} - {f\left( {Z/Z_{n}} \right)}} \right\rbrack}\end{bmatrix}$where white at maximum luminous intensity is given by the triple (X_(n),Y_(n), Z_(n)) in the CIE XYZ color space and the appropriate norm ∥*∥ isthe square root of the sum of the squares of the components of itsargument. For example, if the XYZ triple is changed from t₁ to t₂, then∥U(t₁)−U(t₂)∥ is the amount of perceived change in the light.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the perceiveddifference in the light actually available at a pixel and the light thatis desired is minimized. Let P be the proposition that a set of valuesb_(p), 0≦b_(p)≦1, exists that satisfy Ab+v_(a)=v_(d), and S be a givencondition to be minimized when P is true. The follow algorithm finds thebest pixel color:

Algorithm A:    If P then minimize S constrained by Ab + v_(a) = v_(d),and 0 ≦ b_(j) ≦ 1 ;    Otherwise, find argmin(||U(v_(d)) − U(Ab +v_(a))||) subject to    0 ≦ b_(j) ≦ 1 .   In either case, using thevalues 0 ≦ b_(p) ≦ 1 found in Algorithm A provides the luminousintensities for the LED kind for each pixel.

Depending on the design of the sensors, it is useful to be able to doambient light compensation in several different circumstances. In oneembodiment, the ambient background light may be directly measured (e.g.,measured using a spectrophotometer or a colorimeter that gives v_(a)directly). For example, the ambient light may be measured occasionallywith the signboard switched off briefly (e.g., less than 30milliseconds). Alternatively, a background reference reflector may beprovided near or within the sign to measure the ambient light reflectedfrom it, The measured value of can then be used as input to Algorithm Ato calculate the required luminous intensities of the LEDs to accomplishcompensation for the chroma shift due to the ambient light.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, indirectmeasurement of the background light is accomplished by measuring thecolor of a pixel or a group of pixels while the sign is displayingcolored objects. The measured color is then used in conjunction with theknown desired color v_(d) in the measurement region of interest tocalculate the ambient background v_(a). The value of v_(a) is then usedas input to Algorithm A.

The CIE xyz chromaticities are values related to the CIE tristimuli XYZvalues by:

$x = \frac{X}{X + Y + Z}$ $y = \frac{Y}{X + Y + Z}$$z = \frac{Z}{X + Y + Z}$from which, the following relationships may be derived:

$X = {x\;\frac{Y}{y}}$ $Z = {z\;\frac{Y}{y}}$ x + y + z = 1

Consider measurements made at more than one pixel or pixel group, eachmeasurement being represented by vector

${v_{m}^{k} = \begin{bmatrix}X_{k} \\Y_{k} \\Z_{k}\end{bmatrix}},$where index k indicates that the measurement is made at the k-th pixelor pixel group. Accordingly, the error of the measurement is given byv_(m) ^(k)−(v_(d) ^(k)+v_(a)), or in the CIE xyz representation:e^(k)=α_(k)c^(k)−(v_(d) ^(k)+v_(a)), where

$c^{k} = \begin{bmatrix}x_{k} \\y_{k} \\z_{k}\end{bmatrix}$denotes the measured color at the k-th pixel or pixel group, and

$\alpha_{k} = \frac{Y_{k}}{y_{k}}$is the scalar multiplier. The ambient tristimulus value v_(a) is assumedto be the same at all pixels. Note that α_(k) is an inferred value,since the luminance Y_(k) is not measured in the color measurement.Since c^(k) has three components, there are therefore 3K equations for Kdistinct measurements and K+3 unknowns. The K+3 unknowns are the threecomponents of v_(a) and the K α_(k)'s. A weighted least squares methodmay be used to estimate the K+3 unknowns and their covariances. Notethat the error e^(k) does not take into consideration that humanperceptual errors are not uniform over all values of e^(k). Mapping thevalues of e^(k) to a uniform color space (e.g., CIE L*a*b) resolves thedifficulty. An error in the uniform color space to be minimized overα_(k), for k=1, . . . , K and the three components of v_(a) may be, forexample:

$ɛ = {\sum\limits_{k = 1}^{K}{{{U\left( {{\alpha_{k}c^{k}} - v_{a}} \right)} - {U\left( v_{d}^{k} \right)}}}^{2}}$

A Taylor series expansion of the transformation function U about thepoint v_(d) ^(k) provides an approximation {tilde over (ε)} of the errorε. Let the 3×3 matrix J_(k) represents the derivative of U with respectto

$\begin{bmatrix}X \\Y \\Z\end{bmatrix},$evaluated at the point v_(d) ^(k). The approximation

$\overset{\sim}{ɛ} = {\sum\limits_{k = 1}^{K}{{J_{k}e^{k}}}^{2}}$approaches exactly the squared-error in CIE L*a*b color space as theerrors become small. The same results may be obtained for any otheruniform color space that has a continuous derivative at point v_(d)^(k). The approximation can also be written in the form:

${\overset{\sim}{ɛ} = {\sum\limits_{k = 1}^{K}{{J\left( {{Bx} - u} \right)}}^{2}}},{where}$$x = \begin{bmatrix}v_{a} \\\begin{matrix}\alpha_{1} \\\begin{matrix}\cdots \\\alpha_{k} \\\; \\\alpha_{K}\end{matrix}\end{matrix}\end{bmatrix}$is a (K+3)-dimensional vector,

$u = \begin{bmatrix}v_{d}^{1} \\\cdots \\v_{d}^{k} \\\cdots \\v_{d}^{K}\end{bmatrix}$is a 3K-dimensional vector, and

$J = \begin{bmatrix}J_{1} & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 \\\ldots & \ldots & \ldots & \ldots & \ldots & \ldots & 0 \\0 & \ldots & \ldots & 0 & \ldots & \ldots & \ldots \\0 & \ldots & 0 & J_{k} & 0 & \ldots & 0 \\0 & \ldots & \ldots & 0 & \ldots & \ldots & 0 \\\ldots & \ldots & \ldots & \ldots & \ldots & \ldots & \ldots \\0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & J_{k}\end{bmatrix}$is the block-diagonal 3K×3K transformational matrix carrying all thetristimulus error to the uniform color space. The 3K×(K+3) matrix B isdefined as

${B = \begin{bmatrix}{- I} & c^{1} & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 \\{- I} & 0 & c^{2} & 0 & \ldots & \ldots & \ldots & 0 \\{- I} & 0 & 0 & \ldots & \ldots & \ldots & \ldots & 0 \\\ldots & \ldots & \ldots & \ldots & \ldots & \ldots & \ldots & \ldots \\{- I} & 0 & \ldots & \ldots & 0 & \ldots & \ldots & \ldots \\{- I} & 0 & \ldots & 0 & c^{k} & 0 & \ldots & 0 \\{- I} & 0 & \ldots & \ldots & 0 & \ldots & \ldots & \ldots \\\ldots & \ldots & \ldots & \ldots & \ldots & \ldots & \ldots & \ldots \\{- I} & 0 & \ldots & \ldots & \ldots & \ldots & 0 & 0 \\{- I} & 0 & \ldots & \ldots & \ldots & 0 & c^{K - 1} & \ldots \\{- I} & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & c^{k}\end{bmatrix}},$where I is the 3×3 identity matrix.

The value x that minimizes the error approximation {tilde over (ε)} maybe found in numerous ways. One approach is to solve the set of linearequations (B′J′JB){circumflex over (x)}=(B′J′J)u. A generally moresatisfactory approach is to use a singular value decomposition, whichprovides {circumflex over (x)}=(JB)⁺Ju, where (·)⁺ denotes theMoore-Penrose³ inverse. However, (JB)⁺ is usually not explicitlycalculated. Rather a sequence of transformations are used to calculate{circumflex over (x)}. If v_(a) is not small compared with v_(d) ^(k),then error ε is minimized using a direct minimization method thatminimizes ε over all v_(a) and α_(k). In that case, the approximatesolution for {tilde over (ε)} may serve as a starting point foriterations. ³ See, for example, Adi Ben-Israel et al., GeneralizedInverses—Theory and Applications, Wiley International Series on Pure andApplied Mathematics, p. 7.

Independently of how the minimization is done, the actual error ε may beobtained by substituting the resulting x into the equation for the errorε. The square-root of ε is the error in the selected uniform colorspace. Also, the first three elements of vector x are the components ofvector v_(a), which may be used in Algorithm A to obtain the drivevector b_(k) and the tristimuli vector Ab associated with LEDs forindividual pixels.

Thus, ambient light compensation allows the maintenance of uniformquality of the observed images as the ambient light reflected back fromthe signboard changes, particularly during the daytime with directsunlight. The above description are applicable to systems where three ormore primary colors are available at each pixel. The range ofcompensation increases with the number of primary colors (preferably,four or more primary colors). Moderate computational resources areneeded for tracking sunlight when the image latency is a few seconds.Motion pictures could require signicant computational resources forhigh-quality compensation.

The present invention also provides rapid detection and location of LEDfailures on the signboard, which enhance the overall sign reliabilityand reduce time and cost to repair. One detection method that issuitable for implementing in fault detector 703 is shown in FIG. 8. Asshown in FIG. 8, current driver 801 provides a current at terminalIout_(i) to drive the i-th output line provided to an LED or an LEDstring. I_(ret) is the common current return terminal. Terminal Iout_(i)approaches a limiting voltage V_(lim), when terminal Iout_(i) isterminated in an open circuit or a very high resistance. Voltage V_(lim)is set such that no current flows through detector diode 803 when theLEDs in the LED string are operating at maximum current. Current driver801 is controlled by a pulse-width modulation signal with amplitudeI_(ref) and a specified duty cycle. The control parameters for thecurrent may be specified by an external control module in a register.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a voltagethreshold detector (e.g., voltage threshold detector 802) is provided toeach of the Iout_(i) lines. When the voltage at terminal Iout_(i) isbelow voltage threshold V_(thresh), which is set to a value just aboveV_(lim), voltage threshold detector 802 asserts signal D_(i) to indicatethat an open circuit (or a high resistance) is detected. Thus, assertedsignal D_(i) indicates the presence of a fault (e.g., an open circuit)between the sense point at terminal Iout_(i) and return terminal Iret.Signal D_(i) may be fed into an encoder receiving signals D_(i) of eachof the N LED kinds in a pixel. The value of encoder output E_(out)indicates which, if any, LED strings (or connecting wires) in the pixelare faulty. The encoder outputs of for all pixels may be organized(e.g., hierarchically) by further logic circuit to allow unique locationof all faults in the LED kinds of all pixels in the signboard.

In applications that require a sustained high-quality display, it isdesirable to measure the technical characteristics of the light producedby individual and groups of pixels without interrupting the content thatis being displayed (e.g., the advertisement being displayed on thesignboard). The methods of the present invention provide additionalbenefits of sensing the ambient light reflected from the display, aswell as detecting and locating faulty LEDs, when present. FIG. 15 showsan integrated circuit 1500 including several current sources, connectedto a number of LED strings. The voltage V_(LED) is selected to besufficiently high to provide a voltage offset for operation of theon-off pulse-width modulated current sources. As discussed above, themodulation rate is chosen such that the waveform has essentially noenergy present below about 100 Hz and the duty cycle is selected suchthat the average value of the waveform provides the required lightintensity from the LEDs.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a different imagefrom that perceived may be displayed for a very short duration on theLED display without an observer's notice. Such a brief image may beused, for example, for diagnostic purpose. The images that may bedisplayed in this manner include a test image for a) calibration ofcolor and luminance, b) sensing the ambient light reflected from thedisplay or c) detecting and determining locations of faulty LEDs. Whilea suitable driver circuit (e.g., the Texas Instrument integrated circuitTLC5911) typically has an open-circuit detector (OCD) available for eachstring of LEDs, short-circuits and other malfunctions of an LED cannotbe detected by the OCD. A direct detection of the light output, or itsabsence, is preferable for detecting these faults.

To avoid being noticed by an observer, the duration of the diagnosticoutput does not exceed about 10 milliseconds, and the diagnostic imageshould be placed adjacent temporally to images with similar luminosity.If no buffering other than the normal double buffer (i.e., while theimage in one buffer is being displayed, another image is being receivedinto a second buffer), the display must have the bandwidth for receivingmore than 100 different complete frames per second. Without using alossy compression (undesirable for high-quality displays), the requiredbandwidth represents a data rate of many gigabits per second for even amodest display dimension.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the highcommunication data rate requirement may be avoided by storing the testimage or images at the display controller or within the LED drivers. Bydisplaying an image of the brief duration that selectively activatespredetermined LED strings, for example, the activated LED strings may betested during that brief duration. If a short circuit is detected, usingthe method discussed above with respect to FIG. 8, for example,existence of a faulty LED string is detected without interrupting theadvertising program being displayed. In addition, light sensors may beplaced to detect the luminance of the LEDs that are selectivelyactivated. The light sensors can also be used to sense ambient lightwhen the test image switches off all pixels of the signboard.

Additionally, the method switches on redundant drivers to avoid serviceinterrupt when a local driver failure is detected. Since the typical LEDdrivers use switched current sources, the preferred method is to provideparallel current sources, with one of the parallel current sourcesactive at a time, as shown in FIG. 16. When one of LED driver is founddefective, the redundant parallel driver may be activated. In additionto status indication and fault detection, the methods disclosed can alsobe used to sense ambient light reflected from the display as well asdetect and determine the exact location of faulty LEDs.

As discussed above, having more than three colors (e.g., five) of LEDallows the same psychovisual color and luminous intensity to be achievedby any of several different luminosity combinations in the LEDs of apixel. One approach for calculating the LED drive required to achieve agiven color and luminous intensity finds the maximum luminous intensityŶ at each color within the gamut. For on-line use, the maximum luminousintensity Ŷ at each color may be interpolated from sampling pointsselected from the gamut. Only the quantity and specification of each LEDstring used to produce a basis color are required for this calculation.The calculation of maximum luminous intensity Ŷ at each color may becarried out off-line and stored away. During run time, to display adesired color (e.g., colorimetric coordinate (x, y)), the desired coloris input to the interpolation function, which returns the previouslycalculated maximum luminous intensity Ŷ and the associated LED drivevector {circumflex over (b)}. The required luminous intensities for thedesired color and luminous intensity may be scaled (e.g., linearly) atrun time. A model for the calorimetric equations may be provided by:

${\sum\limits_{p = 1}^{P}{b_{p}X_{p}}} = X$${\sum\limits_{p = 1}^{P}{b_{p}Y_{p}}} = Y$${\sum\limits_{p = 1}^{P}{b_{p}Z_{p}}} = Z$where (X, Y, Z) is the desired color in the tristimulus CIE XYZrepresentation, and the p-th of P kinds of LED specified by (X_(p),Y_(p), Z_(p)) at maximum luminosity. In vector notation, these equationsmay be written as Ab=v, where A is the matrix of basis colorspecification

$\begin{bmatrix}X_{1} & \ldots & X_{p} & \ldots & X_{P} \\Y_{1} & \ldots & Y_{p} & \ldots & Y_{P} \\Z_{1} & \ldots & Z_{p} & \ldots & Z_{P}\end{bmatrix},$b is the drive vector

$\begin{bmatrix}b_{1} \\\ldots \\b_{p} \\\ldots \\b_{P}\end{bmatrix},$and v is the color vector

$\begin{bmatrix}X \\Y \\Z\end{bmatrix}.$As discussed above, these equations can also be represented in the CIExyz chromaticity coordinate system as constraint C₁(Y):

${Ab} = {{\frac{Y}{y}\begin{bmatrix}x \\y \\{1 - x - y}\end{bmatrix}}.}$In one embodiment, A has the value

$\begin{bmatrix}2.8971 & 0.3816 & 0.6580 & 0.9143 & 5.9733 \\1.56 & 2.2 & 2.92 & 2.56 & 2.56 \\17.8286 & 1.9082 & 0.5346 & 0.1829 & 0\end{bmatrix}$(rounded), for a five basis color gamut.

A second constraint is that the drive vector includes only non-negativeb_(p) values, 0≦b_(p)≦1. In other words, C₂: 0≦b≦1. Ŷ and {circumflexover (b)} may be obtained by solving constraint equations: Ŷ,{circumflex over (b)}={Y≧Ŷ, b|C₁(Y), C₁(Ŷ), C₂}. These equations may besolved using linear programming. Let A_(i) denote the i-th row of matrixA. First, solving for Y in one of the rows, for example, the second row,substituting Y in the other rows:

$\begin{matrix}{{A_{2}b} = Y} \\{{\left( {A_{1} - {\left( \frac{x}{y} \right)A_{2}}} \right)b} = 0} \\{{\left( {A_{3} - {\left( \frac{1 - x - y}{y} \right)A_{2}}} \right)b} = 0}\end{matrix}$

Then, maximize A₂b (i.e., finding A₂b=Ŷ) subject to

${\left( {A_{1} - {\left( \frac{x}{y} \right)A_{2}}} \right)b} = 0$and

${{\left( {A_{3} - {\left( \frac{1 - x - y}{y} \right)A_{2}}} \right)b} = 0};$0≦b≦1. Solving the linear programming problem may be carried outoff-line. Points within the gamut may be interpolated between frompoints computed in this manner. If the desired color (x, y) is not apoint within the gamut, its color may be provided by the point at theintersection of a line of constant chromaticity and the boundary of thegamut between the achromatic point and (x, y).

The present invention also provides a method for handling high datarates, while minimizing the quantity of interconnecting wires and cablesrequired. A conventional signboard or advertising structure is organizedusing a hierarchy of electrical and electronic components. Drivers forthe LED strings are usually arranged at the level of sub-groups orgroups of pixels because a number of drivers may be provided in anintegrated circuit, with each integrated circuit accommodating a fewtens of LED strings. Such conventional hierarchical data distributionsystems are expensive and unreliable.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, rather thandirectly connecting from a central control unit to the pixel groups,networking techniques are applied to convey control and pixel data tothe pixel groups. Grouping of pixels at the integrated circuit levelconstitutes the lowest-level opportunity for networking, as theinterfaces at that and higher levels are mostly digital, except forpower distribution. Network techniques may be applied at any of thedigital levels. Many network topologies are possible, so thatscalability and distributed control and data processing may be achieved.

FIG. 9 shows an illustrative interconnection using router or switch 901to group together a set of switches 902-1 to 902-m, each of whichconnects to a set of modules 903-1 to 903-n, each containing multiplepixel groups, according to one embodiment of the present invention. Eachmodule is individually addressable using a network address (e.g., an IPaddress). Control, data, status and faults are all communicated over thenetwork using conventional network protocols (e.g., IP protocol). In oneembodiment, a signboard is divided into 32 groups of modules, with eachgroup having up to 32 modules, thereby allowing 32×32=1024 modules to beaddressed. FIG. 10 shows implementation 1000 of a module (e.g., module903-1), in accordance with the present invention. As shown in FIG. 10,network interface 1001 connects module implementation 1000 to a networkswitch (e.g., any of network switch 902-1 to 902-m), microprocessor orcontroller 1002 drives the pixels in the group of sub-group of pixelsthrough interconnection matrix 1003. (Each of these pixels may beimplemented, for example, by pixel 700 shown in FIG. 7.) Theinterconnection matrix 1003 also allows microprocessor 1002 to send andreceive extensive status determination and fault detection signals fromthe pixels. Remote indication of status and diagnosis of faults is alsogreatly facilitated by embedded computers, such as microprocessor 1002.Alternatively, image processing functions may also implemented inmicroprocessor 1002, thus allowing scaling of the signboard to handlevery large amounts of video and image data (e.g., full-motion surroundimagery and many other large-scale image displays).

The network of the present invention, including any distributedcomputational structures, may be implemented by off-the-shelf standardcomponents. Standard protocols may be used for communication over thenetwork and standard software and firmware may be used to provideinternal and external interfaces to the physical network, providingreliability and reduction in cost. For example, the IP “stack” includingTCP, RTP, UDP, NTP and other associated protocols provides broadfunctionality for communications needed in the signboard (e.g., forcontrolling the LEDs), while ethernet or SONET/SDH can be used toprovide link-level control and data transfer. Optical fiber, wire cablesor wireless can be used for the physical connection.

During manufacture and in operation, positions of the LEDs must becontrolled to small tolerances to ascertain uniformity of the resultingimages on the display. The enclosure for each module, for example, istypically provided by a polymer molding with holes for the LEDs. Such anenclosure experiences large heat loads, as the enclosures have lowreflectivity and, particularly on outdoor structures, may be subjectedto direct sunlight for extended periods of time. Solar heat loads up toabout 1000 watts per square meter of surface area are possible on theface of the structure. The polymer moldings are typically made ofpolymers that have low thermal conductivity and low thermal capacity.Thus, the temperature in an enclosure can become high quite rapidly andwould fluctuate as the heat load changes. Temperature fluctuationsproduce mechanical expansion and contraction stresses on the enclosure,causing misalignment and relative movement of the pixels, which resultsin concomitant loss of image uniformity. Temperature uniformity andconstancy improve accuracy and precision of colors displayed. Mechanicalfatigue caused by repeated stresses can also produce broken connectionsand other electrical continuity problems, which reduce the reliabilityand, potentially, the useful lifetime of the display system.Additionally, the external face of the sign accumulates dirt and debristhat can reduce the light output, increase reflectivity, shift the colorbalance and produce other deleterious effects.

Therefore, maintenance of a signboard requires both effective cleaningand cooling of the signboard. These functions may be performedindependently of each other. According to one embodiment of the presentinvention, the sign face may be cleaned frequently by flowing a fluidover the sign face, or by providing a jet of fluid at the sign face.Typically, the sign face is not a simple flat surface. The LED lens, LEDprotective covering, louvers to provide shade on the sign face, andother deviations from a flat surface may be desirable or exist. Alaminar fluid flow covering the entire sign face may not be possible ormay not be adequate to ensure proper cleaning. Instead, jets consistingof one or more cleaning fluids may be used for cleaning in manycircumstances. The jets may be placed on a scaffold with rails whichallows the jets to slide along a horizontal or vertical direction, orboth. The jets can be generated in many ways. One method uses compressedair to provide a motive force to force a liquid through directednozzles. The fluid may be collected, filtered and recirculated tominimize fluid loss.

As an additional benefit from frequent fluid flow over the sign,temperatures and temperature fluctuations can be reduced significantly.Fluid may also be circulated in conduits installed in the sign toprovide a purely cooling function. Without the need to perform thecleaning function, the fluid conduits may be closed (e.g., in pipes).

Although laminar fluid flow covering the entire sign face may not bepossible, fluid flow to parts of the sign face provide moderation oftemperature fluctuations. For example, fluid flow over or acrosslouvers⁴ associated with each row, or every few rows, of pixels issufficient if the thermal conductance to the louvers is sufficientlyhigh. Use of heat wicks, heat pipes or thin sheets of material with highthermal conductivity distributes the heat to near the surface of theface where fluid flow can remove the heat, thereby moderatingtemperature fluctuations. ⁴ In this embodiment, louvers are provided forshading from incident sunlight to reduce reflectivity of the signboard.The louvers are not required to effectuate cleaning or cooling of thesignboard.

FIG. 11 shows enclosure 1100 for a module with fluid flow capability, inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention. As shown inFIG. 11, enclosure 1100 includes a first face 1106 in which a group ofLEDs are placed behind transparent windows or lens 1104. (Face 1106forms part of the graphical display of the signboard.). FIG. 11 showsenclosure 1100 including 4 pixels, with each pixel having 10 elements.In one implementation, each pixel includes 5 red LEDs, 3 blue LEDs and 2green LEDs. Each enclosure is designed to be a building block of thesignboard, capable of being stacked vertically and placed adjacently andhorizontally relative to each other. The pixels are positioned in eachmodule at specific locations such that, when the enclosures are stackedvertically or placed horizontally, all adjacent pixels are equidistantlyseparated from each other, regardless of whether the adjacent pixels arein the same enclosure or in different enclosures. Face 1106 may beformed as a laminar structure consisting of a thin layer (e.g., a fewmillimeters) of polymer and thin metal mesh 1101. The polymer layer ischosen to provide low reflectivity in the visible band (about 380 to 720nm wavelength), low water absorbance, resistance to the weather andultraviolet exposure and good mechanical properties. Thin metal mesh1101 of high thermal conductivity is provided as a heat wick a shortdistance behind face 1106 as a collector of the thermal load incident onfirst face 1106. Metal mesh 1101 is selected to have a differentialtemperature coefficient consistent with the polymer material of face1106, and capable of providing a good thermal bond thereto. A number ofheat wicks or heat pipes (e.g., heat pipe 1105) are provided behindmetal mesh 1101 to conduct heat away from metal sheet 1101 towards theback side of enclosure 1100. Typically, air conditioning is provided atthe back side for moisture and temperature control. In this embodiment,fluid conduits are provided in top wall 1102 and bottom wall 1103 forcirculating a cleaning fluid. Top wall 1102 may provide a louver thatoverhangs face 1106.

Perforations opening to the fluid conduits of top wall 1102 may beprovided along the louver so that a stream of the cleaning fluid mayflow substantially in a laminar flow over face 1106. Alternatively or inaddition, the cleaning fluid may be provided, for example, by nozzlesplaced at regular intervals, or which move along vertically orhorizontally running conduits provided along the dimensions of thesignboard, so that jets of cleaning fluids may be directed to face 1106of each enclosure in the signboard. The cleaning fluid is preferably onethat does not leave behind a film on face 1106. The stream of cleaningfluid is collected in a gutter in bottom wall 1103, which empties intofluid conduits that direct the cleaning fluid into a reservoir where thecleaning fluid is filtered and recycled. The fluid flow also providestemperature moderation that reduces thermally-induced stress, thuspromoting greater lifetime for the LEDs and associated electronics withresulting reduced service and maintenance costs. If the cooling functionis not necessary for a given sign board (e.g., due to its location),cleaning may be performed relatively infrequently.

Many of the mechanical, fluid control and distribution components neededfor cleaning are common to those needed for temperature moderation.Significant cost savings are therefore realized by integrating thedesign and realization of the means for providing both cleaning andtemperature moderation for the signboard.

Assuming a solar heat load of 1000 watts per square meter, sometemperature gradients and differentials may be estimated. Since thethermal conductivity of most of the polymers is about 0.3 wm⁻¹K⁻¹, abouta 3° C. temperature differential exists across each millimeter thicknessof the laminar material used in face 1106. Using a heat wick consistingof 60-mesh (60 wires per inch) copper screen as thin metal sheet 1101provides a temperature gradient of about 3° C. per centimeter of linearlateral length from the heat sink connection to the copper screen. As aresult, using a thin heat wick (e.g., a copper screen) will provide goodtemperature stability if the distance between heat sink connections doesnot exceed up to about ten centimeters. Spacing between heat- orcold-sink connections may be increased as the thermal conductance isincreased by, e.g., using multiple layers of screen or solid sheets ofmaterial with high thermal conductivity. Alternatively, using active orgravity-feed heat pipes (e.g., heat pipes 1105) provide a mechanism tomove heat over greater distances with, however, increase in complexity.

Embedding heat wicks, heat pipes, or both within an enclosures for theLEDs in the modular structure typically containing a few to a fewhundred pixels moderates the temperature changes resulting from exposureto direct sunlight or extreme cold.

The detailed description above is provided to illustrate specificembodiments of the present invention and is not intended to be limiting.Numerous modifications and variations within the scope of the presentinvention are possible. The present invention is set forth in thefollowing claims.

I claim:
 1. An apparatus for dynamically circumventing faults in thelight emitting diodes (LEDs) of a pixel in a graphical display, the LEDsbeing organized into groups, each group having one or more LEDs, theapparatus comprising: a plurality of drivers each provided forgenerating a current to an associated group of LEDs of the pixel, eachdriver being driven by a pulse-modulated signal specifying an averagecurrent for the associated group of LEDs; a plurality of fault detectorseach electrically coupled to an output terminal of the group of LEDsassociated with a corresponding one of the drivers, each fault detectorbeing provided for detecting a fault in the group of LEDs associatedwith that corresponding driver by detecting a current or voltage at theoutput terminal and for asserting a fault signal when a fault isdetected in that associated group of LEDs; an encoder receiving thefault signals from the plurality of fault detectors and providingsignals encoding the fault detected and identifying the associated groupof LEDs; and a controller receiving the encoded signals and signalsindicating a color to be displayed by the pixel, and providing thepulse-modulated signals for driving the groups of LEDs for which nofault is detected.
 2. An apparatus as in claim 1, wherein the pluralityof drivers include drivers for redundant groups of LEDs, the controlleractivating each redundant group of LEDs in accordance with the encodedsignals.
 3. An apparatus as in claim 1, wherein the fault detectorsdetect short circuits in the associated groups of LEDs.
 4. An apparatusas in claim 1, wherein each fault detector comprises a voltage thresholddetector which detects a drop in voltage at the output terminal.